Air bubble removal in an ink jet printer
US7410248B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 1, 2005 |
| Grant date | Aug 12, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 21, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J2/17513
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An ink jet printer including a carriage which is movable relative to a sheet of paper, a recording head which is mounted on the carriage and records an image on the sheet by ejecting a droplet of ink toward the sheet, one or more ink tanks which store the ink or inks to be supplied to the recording head, a buffer tank which is mounted on the carriage, and one or more ink flow passages in which the inks are supplied from the ink tanks to the recording head via the buffer tank. The buffer tank has, at a height position higher than a height position where the recording head is provided, one or more air buffer chambers which accommodate respective amounts of the inks, and collect air bubbles produced in the ink flow passages. The printer further includes one or more air bubble discharging passages which communicate, at one ends thereof, with upper portions of the air buffer chambers, and discharge, via the other ends thereof, the air bubbles collected by the air buffer chambers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.